MALAYSIAN PORTS PERFORMANCE

Malaysia’s ports hold a steady course Malaysia's two busiest ports, Port Klangand Port of Tanjung Pelepas, have been left largely unscathed by the slowdown in commerce, reported Business Times. Both ports handled about 84 per cent of total container volumes that went through Malaysian ports in 2010. Commerce on the Asia-to-Europe route, the world's second-busiest container route, rose 4.2 per cent in the second quarter. The growth was the weakest since the end of 2009, according to England-based Container Trade Statistics. According to Port Klang Authority (PKA), which oversees both Westports and Northport, overall container trade grew by eight per cent to 6.3 million TEUs for the first eight months of the year. While there was a slight drop in exports in July and in imports in August 2011 compared to the previous year, the drop was deemed negligible or insignificant. About two-thirds of containers that go through Port Klang are bound for Asean, Far East and South Asia. About 10 per cent are Europe-bound while two percent are US-bound. Port Klang is projected to handle 9.4 million TEUs in 2011. Last year, it handled 8.9 million TEUs. "Total container volume handled at Port Klang reflects that Port Klang could meet its projection," the port regulator said. MMC Corp, however, while not expecting PTP and Johor Port to be adversely affected by the global economic slowdown, is anticipating slower transhipment growth for the year. The conglomerate owns both PTP and Johor Port. MMC Corp group managing director Datuk Hasni Harun told Business Times recently that it expected slower transhipment growth of between three and four percent this year compared with between six and seven percent in 2010. PTP saw container throughput rise by 16 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2011 to 3.6 million TEUs. Transhipment contributed more than 90 per cent of total containers handled in PTP for the first half of this year. The port has set a target of 7.5 million TEUs this year. PTP handled 6.3 million TEUs in 2010.